Thousands of tourists stranded in northern Finland as deep freeze halts flights
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
HELSINKI (AP) — Thousands of tourists were stranded in northern Finland on Sunday after flights at Kittilä airport were canceled due to severe cold.
The temperature at the airport dropped to minus 37 degrees Celsius (minus 34.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday morning, after several days of similar frigid weather, making de-icing of aircraft and other operations difficult, Finland’s national public broadcaster Yle reported.
The deep freeze is expected to continue in Kittilä, which is located in Finnish Lapland in the sparsely populated north, on Monday, when the Finnish Meteorological Institute predicts temperatures of almost minus 40 C (minus 40 F).
Finns are generally used to frosty winter temperatures but this year’s cold, which has affected wide regions of northern, central and eastern Europe, is more severe than in other years.
Heavy snowfall, high winds and icy roads have made travel difficult in parts of Europe.
In Germany, train passengers were still experiencing long delays and cancellations Sunday after rail operator Deutsche Bahn shut down all service in the north of the country on Friday due to strong snowfall.
Authorities announced that all schools would remain closed and switch to online classes on Monday in North Rhine-Westphalia, the country’s most populous western state, after forecasts of icy roads across the region.
In the Baltic countries of Estonia and Lithuania, drivers were asked to postpone all nonessential travel because of expected blizzards, while neighboring Latvia issued a snow alert for the west of the country.
___
This story corrects the Fahrenheit conversion.